SkyWest Airlines intends to end scheduled service to 29 cities in the coming months as it continues to face a flight crew shortage.
The St George, Utah-based regional carrier on 10 March gave notice to the Department of Transportation (DOT) that it will end the flights on or before 10 June this year.
All destinations named in the filing are part of the US government’s Essential Air Service (EAS) programme.
EAS has been in place since the 1970s, and guarantees more than 200 small communities across the USA a minimal level of commercial air service. The government provides subsidies to carriers serving the cities, which would otherwise have little or no scheduled air service.
“Although SkyWest Airlines would prefer to continue providing scheduled air service to these cities, the pilot staffing challenges across the airline industry preclude us from doing so,” the airline writes in its filing with the DOT.
“Skywest has long been a supporter of the Essential Air Service programme and the critical need it fills in our national transportation infrastructure,” it adds in a media statement. ”We appreciate our partnerships and the support of these communities, and we are committed to delivering a solid, reliable product to each of them through this transition.”
”We are eager to work with officials toward solutions that would enable us to reconnect these communities to the National Air Transportation System in the future, and we are committed to remaining flexible and adjusting our plans if the situation improves more quickly than currently expected,” the company says.
SkyWest flies regional aircraft for United Airlines, American Airlines, Alaska Airlines and Delta Air Lines with a fleet of more than 500 aircraft, including Embraer 175s and Bombardier CRJ200s, CRJ700s and CRJ900s.
All cities to which the airline will end service are in United Airlines’ network and are located in the Midwest and Southeast USA.
They include: Alamosa and Pueblo…
